NUM165 The fourth category [of scoffer] entails a preoccupation with idle talk and a squandering of one's time [Devarim beteilim can also be translated as "idle words," but this appears redundant here (Zeh Hasha'ar). See Strive for Truth 1:1, pg. 237; and Avos 3:2: "If two people sit together and no words of Torah are spoken between them, theirs is an assembly of scoffers."], in the manner of those who sit idly on street corners. Two ills emerge from this evil: the one--excessive talk leads to sin [See Avos 1:17], and the second--the neglect of Torah study. Within this lie the pathways towards death; for how could he failed to recall and take note that those very occasions he wasted could be utilized for the attainment of pleasantness [i.e. all the spiritual benefits in this world that the Torah provides those who study it (Sha'arei Teshuvah Hameforash) and for the acquisition of eternal life – if he would designate those free times for Torah study, when he is unoccupied with his work and his affairs? This can only be because inwardly he disparages the mitzvos and the reward given in the World to Come. Aside from the loss of much good, he will also bear his own sin, for the offense of the neglect of Torah study when one has the opportunity is a fire which consumes until it destroys. As our Sages said (Sanhedrin 99a), "For he has disparaged Hashem's word" [this verse] is a reference to one who has the opportunity to engage in Torah study and does not do so, as we have already explained.